The unofficial standings for NFL quarterbacks are rooted in sexuality, if my experiences this weekend are any indication.
That or a few members of society are still insanely ignorant.
While visiting a Village bar this weekend I was offered a (I hope) satirical card by a bartender. "Official member of the 'I hate Tom Brady and the New England Patriots' Fan Club," the card's title read.
Two pictures, one of Peyton Manning and one of Tom Brady, sat below the title - each with its own caption.
"Super human with laser arm," the card read below a horizontal picture of Manning.
I looked to the smaller, adjacent image of Brady. "Gay with limp wrist," the caption read.
The bartender pointed somewhat cautiously toward a man sitting across the room who created the cards. The man's snow-white hair placed his age in the late 40s or early 50s. Decked out in a Colts' replica jersey, he was sitting with a few other people around his age.
I flipped the card around. The reverse side sported a title with a royal blue medieval font: "Let it be known to all men." An all-caps "oath" was printed below. "That I willingly believe that Tom Brady is gay and that the Colts will always be beter [sic] than the Pats!"
This man took the time to pull pictures, write text, design, and laminate these cards - yet somehow spell check never crossed his mind.
I digress. This man, among others, is saying that sexuality influences ability. Sad to say, this ignorance is not limited to that man. A group search on Facebook for "Tom Brady is gay" yielded more than 40 results, give or take a few misfit search criteria.
Thing is - it doesn't matter where Brady likes it, or doesn't like it. How Brady engages in sex has no influence whatsoever on his ability to play a sport, or do just about anything else outside of, well, screwing.
Gay is not an insult. When we attempt to assault each other with "gay" and "fag," it's not a matter of moral standing or sodomy - it's about gender roles.
The gay stereotype is rooted in effeminate behavior - hence Mr. Card-man's use of the limp wrist. Consider the connotation of effeminate behavior, and you'll see its application to other minorities in history, too. We continually put down minorities based on believed inferior standing to stereotypical men.
Society says gay is the new Jew. But Jew was the new black; black was the new woman and the woman was - stereotypically speaking - the less-productive, inferior being. When we call someone gay for the hell of it we're attempting to degrade the individual for being woman-like. If that's the case, the implication in a straight relationship is the woman is the lesser of the two partners.
Try upholding that principle the next time you want to get laid.
Homosexuality is not a "black and white" or "man or woman" issue, and calling it such is false dichotomy. There's a reason the GLBT organization on campus is called "Spectrum." It's derivative of the rainbow flag symbolism and the colorful range of people who stand by it.
And many people -¡- especially on campus - stand by that flag, perfectly comfortable in their identity. With the fashionable, stylistic and high-class stereotype of gay men, straight men using homosexuality as a put-down are making life tougher on themselves. The constant fear of not wanting to be "gay" creates uneasiness and paranoia among straight men. And it's hard to avoid being "gay" when "gay" sets the standard for class.
It's like calling any man drinking Smirnoff Ice "gay." No, he's gay if he's attracted to the same sex. The malt beverage has nothing to do with it. If this weren't the case, every freshman and high school student in the nation would be a "limp-wristed gay."
If ignorance and intolerance weren't spreading by means of artificial fan clubs ousting people who aren't actually gay, perhaps our intelligence could be used for more productive purposes. Of those purposes, computing NFL statistics might be a good place to get the real information on someone's quarterbacking abilities.
Their bedroom activities have nothing to do with it.
Write to Dave at heydave@bewilderedsociety.com
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